Mr Trump has praised Mr Putin as a great leader, and taken policy positions "consistent with Russian, not American, interests", including endorsing Russian espionage against USA figures like Mrs Clinton, Mr Morell said.

Donald Trump has formally endorsed House Speaker Paul Ryan, after saying he wasn't ready to do so earlier this week.

Immediately after that, Trump performed the hat trick by endorsing Kelly Ayotte in her Senate re-election bid in New Hampshire, too, where Trump's standing has taken a significant beating this week.

"I hold in the highest esteem Sen". John McCain and New Hampshire Sen.

On Monday, Sen. John McCain, whom Trump once mocked for being captured during the Vietnam War, rebuked Trump's comments about the Khans. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) after hesitating to back them as well. "It's time to unite our Party and deny a third term of Obama".

Heavy hitters like Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, and Rush Limbaugh had all expressed the hope that Ryan would lose to his primary opponent Paul Nehlen.

Meanwhile, Ryan reaffirmed his support for Donald Trump Thursday while speaking on the "Jerry Bader Show" in Wisconsin.

This endorsement comes after Trump caused more discord within the party earlier this week when he said he was "not quite there yet" when asked if he supported Ryan's re-election.

Trump's campaign said his economic advisory panel included former steel executive Dan DiMicco; Howard Lorber, CEO of tobacco company Vector Group Ltd; and Trump campaign finance chairman and investment manager Steven Mnuchin. And Trump Campaign Communications Director Jason Miller said that it was the campaign's decision to turn Nehlen away from the Green Bay rally.

Trump had balked at endorsing Ryan on Tuesdayin an interview with The Washington Post, a move that intensified concerns about his presidential campaign within the GOP as Trump already faced controversy over his criticism over the weekend of the parents of an American soldier killed in combat.

In another Friday morning interview, Ryan told WTMJ's Charlie Sykes that "I see no objective in doing this tit-for-tat, petty back and forth with Donald Trump, because it serves no good goal in my mind". We need unity. We have to win this election.

Mr Ryan, the top U.S. elected Republican, had no plans to attend the event, in a sign of lingering frictions between the pair. On Friday, Priebus announced that he and his wife voted for Ryan.

An aide to Ryan told the Guardian that the Speaker "appreciates the gesture and is going to continue to focus on earning the endorsement of the voters in Southern Wisconsin".

"It doesn't make me feel good when people say those things, and I recognize that I have work to do", Clinton said.

But the next day, Pence announced that he was backing Ryan - telling Fox News that "he's a longtime friend". He's a strong conservative leader.

Unity was on the mind of the Republican party on Friday as Donald Trump tried to mend fences with a few critics within his own party. Those comments created a furor within the GOP, and infuriated leading Republicans in Wisconsin, where Trump and Pence are appearing Friday night.